Marvel's Future Ant-Man Has An Awesome MCU Connection

The latest issue of Old Man Hawkeye reveals that not all hope is lost, as a young boy with an interesting tie to an MCU favorite is shown to be the future Ant-Man. Like with the Wolverine comic that inspired it, Old Man Hawkeye is all about the titular hero going on a quest for revenge and taking out supervillains in the process. It paints a much more violent picture of Clint Barton, one willing to use any means necessary to avenge his loved ones. And that means Hawkeye is killing his old teammates.

It's not the Avengers who are in the crosshairs, however, as they're all dead. Instead, Clint is gunning for his old friends in the Thunderbolts, who turned back to villainy when the time came to destroy most of the superheroes. Last issue saw Clint brutally take down Atlas, and this month Beetle/Mach-X paid the price. All the while, Old Man Bullseye is hunting Clint—and being hunted himself by the Kravinoff Kids. But in a world overrun with villains, one former baddie sees his family take a step toward heroism.

Old Man Hawkeye #4 wraps up with Clint having killed Beetle, narrowly avoided being sniped by Bullseye, and with Multiple Venom on his trail. After a long day, Clint heads to Josie's, itself familiar to fans of The Defenders universe on Netflix. And tending bar in the future is none other than Turk Barrett. But when Clint notes there's a surplus of ants in the bar, the issue throws in another twist.

It's unclear how much the character will play a role, but if nothing else one potential future in the Marvel Universe sees Turk Barrett's nephew take on the literal mantle of Ant-Man (which grants him control over the insects). It's likely Pym Particles don't still exist, of course, so Ant-Boy won't get the best powers of his predecessor. Regardless of what the reveal leads to, it's an entertaining moment and an example of what makes alternate future stories so fun.

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Turk Barrett is having something of a resurgence in comics (likely thanks to his prominence in the MCU). Along with the cameo in Old Man Hawkeye, Turk Barrett has an Infinity Stone in the current Infinity Countdown event. There's been no reveal about how he managed this feat, but so far the criminal is using his new Mind Stone to make himself an unbeatable gambler.

As Old Man Hawkeye is a limited series (at least for now), it's heading towards its endgame. Clint will next be going after Songbird, but issue #4 closes with the Venom horde about to attack. But Marvel seems keen to continue exploring the dystopia from Old Man Logan, so perhaps we'll see Ant-Boy again soon.